In investigation published on April 10, 2022, Bloomberg returns to the setbacks of the Amazon Prime Air project launched by Jeff Bezos in 2013. Thanks to the testimonies of 13 current and former employees of the company, we discover that this drone delivery project is not progressing, despite the 2 billion dollars spent.
Technical shortcomings, repeated crashes, high turnover…
In the article published by the American media, we discover the hidden side of Amazon Prime Air. The investigation reveals a high staff turnover, major security problems and technical shortcomings that prevent the project from moving forward in good conditions. In the fall of 2020, Amazon Prime Air, for example, laid off a large part of the employees of the research and development department. Same thing on the manufacturing side. At the time, the FinancialTimes explained that Amazon favored partnerships with external companies.
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This reorganization contributed to the complications of Jeff Bezos’ project. After consulting internal documents and government reports, Bloomberg says management allegedly pushed some Amazon Prime Air executives to take unnecessary risks. By launching this kind of project, we obviously expect that there will be drone crashes. Employee testimonials and reports from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), however, suggest that Amazon Prime Air has gone too far. Some managers would have taken unnecessary risks “who put the staff at risk”.
A radical culture change at Amazon Prime Air
For the moment, the American regulator is still very far from approving commercial flights for delivery by drone. The FAA nevertheless authorizes test flights in inhabited areas, to allow companies like Amazon Prime Air to perfect their technologies. In 2020, the company made a change of direction which certainly contributed to the situation we find today. Gur Kimchi, director of the project since 2013, was replaced by David Carbon, a former director at Boeing, widely known for prioritizing production at the expense of safety.
If this man of experience has probably accelerated the development of Amazon Prime Air, he has also imposed a very particular corporate culture, which displeases employees. Upon his arrival, David Carbon closed the English and French subsidiaries. image recognition work moved to Costa Rica to make it cheaper. Some testimonies suggest that he ordered a test in California, in violation of FAA recommendations. This leadership change also contributed to a new culture at Amazon Prime air. Speech is less free, employees are monitored… This is why 200 people have decided to leave in 2021.